Ceviche clásico recipe: Lima's citrus-cured sea bass
The whole dish turns on timing: fish cut cold and dressed in leche de tigre seconds before it reaches the table, the way Lima's cevicherías do it.
Ceviche clásico is raw sea bass cured in lime juice and chili, built around leche de tigre, the blended citrus-and-fish marinade that gives the dish its name and its bite.
Lima declared ceviche part of its cultural heritage in 2004, and the city's cevicherías, among them La Mar and Gastón Acurio's Manko, built their reputations on a method more than a recipe: fish stays cold and whole until the last possible moment, and the acid does its work in minutes, not hours. This version follows that technique, with Lima back in the spotlight as the World's 50 Best Restaurants ceremony lands in the city for the first time.
Ingredients
Lime's acid denatures the fish almost on contact; past a few minutes, the texture turns rubbery.
- 500g very fresh sea bass or corvina fillet, skin and bones removed
- 1 red onion, very thinly sliced
- 10 limes, juiced (about 200ml)
- 1 aji limo or habanero chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped, plus extra to serve
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 small piece ginger, grated
- 1 celery stick, roughly chopped
- A small handful of coriander, half chopped, half reserved
- Fine sea salt
- 1 sweet potato, boiled and sliced
- 1 corn cob, boiled and sliced into rounds
- A handful of toasted corn kernels (cancha), to serve
Method
- Trim the fish and set aside a small handful of trimmings. Blend the trimmings with half the lime juice, the garlic, ginger, celery and half the coriander, then strain through a fine sieve. This is the leche de tigre: blending fish into the citrus seasons and thickens it, which is what separates it from plain lime juice.
- Soak the sliced onion in iced water for 10 minutes, then drain well. The cold water pulls out the onion's sharpest sulfur compounds, so it stays crunchy rather than harsh.
- Cut the fish into 1.5cm cubes and keep it chilled until the last moment. Larger, cold cubes cure more slowly and evenly, so the centre stays barely set instead of turning mushy.
- Season the fish lightly with salt. Toss it with the leche de tigre, remaining lime juice, chopped chilli and drained onion no more than two minutes before serving.
- Lime's acid denatures the fish's proteins almost on contact; left any longer than a few minutes, the texture tightens and turns rubbery rather than tender.
- Plate immediately with the sweet potato and corn alongside, and scatter over the cancha, reserved coriander and extra chilli.
Drink what's left in the bowl
In Lima, the leche de tigre pooled at the bottom of the bowl is often drunk straight, as a shot nicknamed levanta muertos, or “wakes the dead.” Serve it the same way here, or ladle a little extra over each plate.
Can I make ceviche ahead of time? Prepare the leche de tigre and chop the fish up to a few hours ahead and keep both cold and separate, but only combine them in the final two minutes before serving, or the texture turns rubbery.
A cold, high-acid white such as sauvignon blanc holds up well against the lime, and a classic pisco sour keeps the pairing entirely Peruvian.
